Felix’s Machines and Leila

On Saturday I went to go and visit Felix’s machines at the Gasworks in Vauxhall.

Felix creates futuristic automatons from pieces of instruments and other material. They play his own compositions, which are somewhere close to a cross between Yann Tiersen and some of Aphex Twin’s more ambient work. Rumour has it he will be taking his machines on tour with the mighty dance bass playing maestro Squarepusher very soon so it’s worth getting down there before it shuts on January 18th [and as a bonus it is free!].

Here is a rather crudely shot video so you can grasp the concept a little better..

At the opening night of the exhibition, Leila [signed last year to Warp Records] played a DJ set.. I’ve got to draw attention to just how good her album ‘Blood, Looms and blooms’ really is. You can buy it here.

It also brings a realisation of how strong an influence Iran is having upon popular culture in recent times. Two of my closest friends are half Iranian and I can name at least three more people in my friendship group who have Iranian heritage. Early this morning I finished reading the brilliant graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.